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gbrading

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Hong Kong Central

By gbrading 3 Comments

The Peak Tower Bird Dish.
The Peak Tower Bird Dish.
At least I was there for a bit. Not anymore sadly, as the summer months draw to a quick, sudden and ultimately wet ending. Anyway, back to the point of this posting. When I was in Hong Kong during my holiday, a city of massive skyscrapers, very little litter and, whilst I was there, the Beijing Olympic Equestrian Events (there were no suitable parks in Beijing itself, along with the worry that the smog would upset the horses), I visited Victoria Peak. This is the relatively famous mountain situated behind the Central financial district and Admiralty (where the Headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) apparently have such good 'feng shui' that just standing in the Atrium is supposed to bring good luck), and getting to the top involves either a long car journey up through the posh suburban Mid-Levels, or a quick journey on an extremely steep tram service. Upon arriving at the top of the mountain, you are greeted by a large building which kind of looks like a giant bird dish: the Peak Tower (see left).
The EA Experience, within the bird dish.
The EA Experience, within the bird dish.

Now, inside this giant bird dish is an excellent viewing platform of Downtown Hong Kong, but also what is probably the highest (in terms of elevation) EA Experience shop and arcade I have ever seen (see right). It just seemed surreal that at the top of this mountain, there would be a giant tower with a shopping centre and an EA Experience at the centre of it. In terms of games, there was Battlefield Bad Company (where things really do like to explode often), The Sims 2 (which was a bit dull considering it has been out for many years now) and Need for Speed ProStreet (again boring as it is already out). Actually, the best thing I saw there was simple a sign for Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) sound from Creative, which was introducing our of their new speaker systems, and underneath was a pun to make Hendrix fans groan; "Are You EAXperienced?"
Hong Kong from Victoria Peak.
Hong Kong from Victoria Peak.
Turning to games, I've been playing some more Team Fortress 2, continuing with Tropico, and attempting to solve sound cache problems with Battlefield 1942, where the sound just freaks out and everything starts looping (though thankfully the game itself continues to run without problem. Even though I've asked EA support, they haven't been particularly helpful (considering their answers have all the personality of a depressed photocopier), and none of their suggestions have ultimately solved the problem. And ending on two important things happening in the world utterly unrelated to games; John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his VP candidate, and Hurricane Gustav is barrelling once again to Louisiana and the New Orleans/Lake Charles area. On Palin, she's new, she's a woman, and she has almost no experience beyond being Governor of Alaska for 20 months. However, it is a really clever tactic, because whichever way the Presidential election swings, the US is either going to get its first black President, or its first woman Vice President. Hurricane Gustav on the other hand has caused a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans (fearful of another Katrina) and much of the Louisiana coastline, and because it is heading over the Gulf of Mexico, the winds continue to strengthen until it reaches landfall sometime tomorrow. Anyway, here is a picture of the spectacular view from the Peak Tower in Hong Kong to round off (see above, left).

Giant Bomb Addendum
Not much in this addendum. Since this was post written a little while ago (several days) it's thankful to note that Hurricane Gustav hasn't made the impact many had feared it would, as it was downgraded to Category 1 when it made landfall midway along the Louisiana coast. There has still been flooding, but not to the severity or destruction which Hurricane Katrina produced. Oh, and I've grown addicted to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report". Most people over here in Britain will never have heard of them, but they are extremely well known in America as great political satire. Luckily you can watch full episodes online (when Comedy Central get around to uploading them), so I've partially become an addict for both shows. That is all for now folks!
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gbrading

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Edited By gbrading
The Peak Tower Bird Dish.
The Peak Tower Bird Dish.
At least I was there for a bit. Not anymore sadly, as the summer months draw to a quick, sudden and ultimately wet ending. Anyway, back to the point of this posting. When I was in Hong Kong during my holiday, a city of massive skyscrapers, very little litter and, whilst I was there, the Beijing Olympic Equestrian Events (there were no suitable parks in Beijing itself, along with the worry that the smog would upset the horses), I visited Victoria Peak. This is the relatively famous mountain situated behind the Central financial district and Admiralty (where the Headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) apparently have such good 'feng shui' that just standing in the Atrium is supposed to bring good luck), and getting to the top involves either a long car journey up through the posh suburban Mid-Levels, or a quick journey on an extremely steep tram service. Upon arriving at the top of the mountain, you are greeted by a large building which kind of looks like a giant bird dish: the Peak Tower (see left).
The EA Experience, within the bird dish.
The EA Experience, within the bird dish.

Now, inside this giant bird dish is an excellent viewing platform of Downtown Hong Kong, but also what is probably the highest (in terms of elevation) EA Experience shop and arcade I have ever seen (see right). It just seemed surreal that at the top of this mountain, there would be a giant tower with a shopping centre and an EA Experience at the centre of it. In terms of games, there was Battlefield Bad Company (where things really do like to explode often), The Sims 2 (which was a bit dull considering it has been out for many years now) and Need for Speed ProStreet (again boring as it is already out). Actually, the best thing I saw there was simple a sign for Environmental Audio Extensions (EAX) sound from Creative, which was introducing our of their new speaker systems, and underneath was a pun to make Hendrix fans groan; "Are You EAXperienced?"

Hong Kong from Victoria Peak.
Hong Kong from Victoria Peak.
Turning to games, I've been playing some more Team Fortress 2, continuing with Tropico, and attempting to solve sound cache problems with Battlefield 1942, where the sound just freaks out and everything starts looping (though thankfully the game itself continues to run without problem. Even though I've asked EA support, they haven't been particularly helpful (considering their answers have all the personality of a depressed photocopier), and none of their suggestions have ultimately solved the problem. And ending on two important things happening in the world utterly unrelated to games; John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his VP candidate, and Hurricane Gustav is barrelling once again to Louisiana and the New Orleans/Lake Charles area. On Palin, she's new, she's a woman, and she has almost no experience beyond being Governor of Alaska for 20 months. However, it is a really clever tactic, because whichever way the Presidential election swings, the US is either going to get its first black President, or its first woman Vice President. Hurricane Gustav on the other hand has caused a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans (fearful of another Katrina) and much of the Louisiana coastline, and because it is heading over the Gulf of Mexico, the winds continue to strengthen until it reaches landfall sometime tomorrow. Anyway, here is a picture of the spectacular view from the Peak Tower in Hong Kong to round off (see above, left).

Giant Bomb Addendum
Not much in this addendum. Since this was post written a little while ago (several days) it's thankful to note that Hurricane Gustav hasn't made the impact many had feared it would, as it was downgraded to Category 1 when it made landfall midway along the Louisiana coast. There has still been flooding, but not to the severity or destruction which Hurricane Katrina produced. Oh, and I've grown addicted to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report". Most people over here in Britain will never have heard of them, but they are extremely well known in America as great political satire. Luckily you can watch full episodes online (when Comedy Central get around to uploading them), so I've partially become an addict for both shows. That is all for now folks!
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deactivated-65f9e2f09d481

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Edited By deactivated-65f9e2f09d481

Looks nice at EA. I've always wanted to check out places like Hong Kong, China and Japan. I doubt I ever will but I can dream. :)

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Hamz

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Edited By Hamz

I've never been to China before but i've always wanted to go after a family holiday in Japan where i enjoyed myself but i've always found China to be a culturally interesting place. Glad things are going well.